Selene Kanda
by Jaxrond
Summary: Selene knew her life as an exorcist was far from over, even when she married Kanda and became pregnant with his child. She had, however, hoped that the lull in action would remain as it was long enough for her child to reach an age where it would not be so dependent upon her. The sudden reappearance of her old enemy, Tyki Mikk, sends her tumbling back into the war, that hope gone.
1. The Beginning

**Hello and welcome to Selene Kanda the sequel to Selene Thandof. I apologize for the short beginning chapter, but that's what I felt was needed to get the story started. I hope you enjoy the sequel as much as the first one. Otherwise, I don't really have much to say. Please R&R!**

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Selene twitched slightly in annoyance. She prided herself on her patience, after all, she had to balance out her husband, whose temper was legendary. This, however, was one of the most trying ordeals she had ever gone through. It was worse than the time Lavi had given Aerial enough sugar for the girl to stay away for a full twenty-four hour period. It was worse than the time General Teidol had made her pose for ten different sketches so that he could always remember his first daughter. It was even worse than listening to Bookman explain the entire history of the Black Order.

Komui was doing a sound check on her baby, listening for the child's heartbeat.

The strange man had been kneeling before her for nearly ten minutes, holding some sort of instrument to her swollen belly and listening intently through an earpiece. His eyes were narrowed behind his glasses as his lips moved, silently counting the number of beats.

Selene sighed.

"Komui, you said that you would only count to one hundred, and that time has long since passed."

"Shhh!"

Selene's eye twitched.

"Komui, I would like to go to bed now."

"Hmmm?" he looked up at her curiously, his mind actually registering what she had said, "Bed? At this hour? Surely you aren't tired already!"

"I am eight months pregnant, Chief. I'm always tired," Selene deadpanned.

Indeed, she did appear to be rather exhausted. Purple shadows hung under her eyes, made to stand out more by her pallid skin. Her normally bright, amber eyes were dull and her hair hung about her face, falling from a sloppy ponytail. Her pregnancy was obviously taking its toll, despite her resilience and healing abilities as a second exorcist.

Komui rose to his feet, sighing.

"Alright, go on. Your baby's heart sounds healthy enough. But with you so close to the due date, I'd like to make the checkups more frequent," he lowered his voice slightly, his brows drawing together, "It seems like a normal, healthy child, but we still have no idea what could happen. I hate to say this, but the child may not survive its own birth, and, if it does, its growth may be accelerated so far that you would only have a short time to live with it."

Selene nodded tiredly, pushing her hair back out of her face.

"Yu and I have discussed these possibilities. All we can do is pray for the best and, hopefully, our baby will be just fine."

Komui nodded, his expression becoming light again.

"Well, then! I'm off to see if my darling Lenalee has returned from her mission yet!" he turned to skip away in the manner only he could. Then he looked over his shoulder, "Selene, if anything happens, alert the Head Nurse immediately. I'll make sure to get up there as soon as possible."

"I will. Thank you, Komui."

Selene smiled slightly as the Chief skipped off in the direction of the main door, singing a made up song about his darling Lenalee. She was glad that he was so heavily involved with the development of her baby. Though he was eccentric and often flighty, he was a brilliant scientist and genuinely cared for her and her well being. Of course, Yu disliked the idea of Komui being in the room when the baby was born, but Selene had assured him it was necessary, as Komui had the best chance of successfully intervening should anything go wrong.

Turning her back to the antics of her superior, Selene began to walk back toward her room at a leisurely pace, one hand resting against her back to support the extra weight of her pregnancy. It seemed that even the accelerated healing of a second exorcist was not enough to offset the trials of pregnancy. The Head Nurse contributed this to hormone imbalances and the fact that pregnancy was not a phenomena the body rejected, but rather, one that it attempted to accelerate and guard.

She stifled a yawn. It was difficult for her to sleep while contesting with the bulge of her stomach. Especially since the baby had begun kicking. More than once it had lodged a foot in her ribs while she was sleeping, making for a rather painful wake up call. Yu did what he could to ease her nights, holding her close and sometimes staying up with her. He was more hardened than Selene, and could better handle sleeplessness. She smiled softly at the memory of her husband lying next to her, his hair unbound and falling across the white sheets of their shared bed. His blue eyes, so dark they were almost black, fixated on her own as he spoke softly in his deep voice.

Her musings were interrupted by a sudden pang in her stomach, strong enough that it caused her to double over. Her eyes widened.

_I just saw Komui for that checkup...I should still have another few weeks...it isn't time! I'm not ready!_

She knew however, from the sudden trickle of liquid down her leg, that her water had broken. She sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes becoming panicked.

"Yu!"

Kanda froze, having heard his wife's scream, his eyes wide. He quickly dropped the training sword and sprinted from the room, leaving the wooden blade on the floor. He dodged finders, scientists, and other Order members as he sped through the halls. She had promised to stay in their room today, as her due date was so close. He knew that she had an appointment with Komui, but that should be over and done with. His face contorted into the scowl he wore when he was feeling pressed.

He was frightened, though he would never show it. A second exorcist had never reproduced before, and everything about Selene's pregnancy had been a complete unknown. It was quite plausible that the birth would not go well, despite the success they had with the baby's development. Kanda had been on edge for months, watching as his wife, the only person he truly loved, grew weaker and more tired, her energy consumed by the life growing within her. While he had decided that he did indeed want the child, wanted to become a father, he could not help but resent the child somewhat for doing this to his beloved. He had been tense, waiting for the day when the fate of their child would finally come to light. Hearing the panic and fear in her cry had caused his heart to twist.

He rounded the corner, coming into the hall that ran perpendicular to the one containing their room. There, kneeling on the floor, was Selene. He saw Lavi coming from the other direction, obviously having heard her call as well. Kanda reached her first, crouching next to her, his hand moving to grip her shoulder.

"Selene, what is it? What's wrong?"

She looked up at him with eyes full of fear. Never before had he witnessed such fear in her eyes. Not even when she had faced the Noah had she been so obviously afraid.

"Yu..." she whispered, "My water broke."

The world seemed to grind to a halt. He stared at her, processing this. Then he burst into action, standing and scooping her up into his arms.

Lavi reached them at that moment, his mouth open to form a question.

"It's time," Kanda said shortly, "Go get Komui."

The young man's visible eye showed surprise and shock. It quickly melted into a sort of grim determination. He turned and ran quickly down the hall, calling for Komui.

Kanda held Selene close as he moved quickly as he dared in the opposite direction, making for the hospital wing. Selene's hand fisted in his shirt.

"I'm scared, Yu."

His heart contracted again at the sound of her voice. It was as fragile as a little girl's. He instinctively held her tighter, as though to ward off her fear with his embrace.

"It's going to be alright."


	2. Birth

**Thanks for reading on to chapter two! I must warn you that this chapter does depict childbirth so, if that makes you queasy, I would suggest avoiding it. Please, R&R!**

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Selene gripped Yu's hand so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She gritted her teeth together to keep from crying out but was unable to stop the groans of pain that escaped her. Not even when she had fallen from a three story roof during a battle with Tyki and broken her back had she been in so much pain. She felt as if she were being ripped apart from the inside out. Her vision was full of black spots as another contraction tore through her.

As soon as they had arrived in the hospital wing, the Head Nurse had helped Selene change into a gown and then had Yu lay her on one of the beds. Fortunately, there had been no other patients at the time. Since then, Selene had been lying in the bed, bearing the pains of labor. Komui had arrived not long after they did, his face grave and serious. He had immediately set to work, monitoring her heart rate and such and recording his findings on a clipboard. Two other nurses waited with the Head Nurse for the baby to come. Komui's job was to keep Selene and the child, after it was born, alive. He would have no part in the delivery process.

A sudden movement within alerted her that the baby was turning.

"H-he's turning," she gasped out.

The Head Nurse nodded approvingly.

"Good. It will be an easy birth."

The hours dragged by as they waited for the birth to occur. Hours of endless contractions and pain. Yu stayed with her all the while, clasping her hand and murmuring to her. His eyes were gentle as he brushed her hair back from her face, allowing his fingertips to trail over her cheekbone. She forced a smile and his lips turn upward in return. For her, he would genuinely smile. One of his hands rested on her swollen belly as they spoke quietly of dreams they had for the child. Yu told her that, male or female, it would be a strong child that "neither the Earl or those bastards at Central Command will ever lay their hands on". Selene laughed breathlessly.

"You'll protect us," she touched his cheek with one trembling hands, "Just like always."

Yu caught her hand and pressed his lips to the backs of her fingers.

Finally, Selene knew that it was time.

"He's coming!"

The nurses burst into a flurry of motion. Komui, who had dozed off in a chair next to the bed, jolted awake. He grabbed his clipboard and focused in the monitors that he had been using to monitor Selene's vitals. Had she not been birthing a child, Selene would have stopped to consider herself lucky that the even was taking place in the Black Order, where technology was more advanced. Outside, women simply had to suffer through, hoping to survive. With the scientists of the Order watching out for her, however, Selene's chance of survival was much higher. She Yu gripped her hand tightly as her breathing became fast and hard. She could not help the cry that burst from her throat as the child began to slowly exit her body. She felt as though she were being ripped apart from the inside. The monitors raced and Komui gave her a concerned glance, scribbling down data on his clipboard.

"Selene, look at me," Yu's voice was hard and commanding, causing Selene's topaz eyes to meet his.

His own eyes were as determined as they had ever been on the battlefield.

"Breathe. They told you that you had to control your breathing."

Selene gave a jerky nod and attempted to control her breathing. Just like when she trained with her sword, she breathed in through her nose before exhaling through her mouth. Occasionally, she found herself once again taking quick, shallow breaths through her mouth. When this happened, she would force herself back into a steady rhythm. The Head Nurse gave the order for her to push and expel the baby into the world. She cried out again as she pushed, the baby moving more swiftly through the birth canal.

"Again! He's almost there!" the Head Nurse said.

A few minutes later, the Head Nurse announced that she could see the head. After another push, accompanied by a tearing sensation, the baby was born. One of the nurses quickly cut the umbilical cord. Then another snatched it up and carried it off to be cleaned, followed by Komui, who wished to observe the child. Within the next ten minutes, the birthing process was completed by the delivery of the placenta.

Selene breathed a sigh of relief. Sweat trickled down her face as she attempted to regain her breath. The nurses bustled around her, cleaning up the copious amounts of blood that had been expelled along with the child. Selene was glad that she could not see it. Though she had seen a fair amount of blood during her time at the Order, there was something about seeing one's own blood in great amounts that was off-putting.

The nurse brought the baby, swaddled in cloth, to her. A second nurse assisted Yu in propping Selene up so that she could hold the child.

"It's a boy," she told the parents softly.

Yu stared at the baby, who had yet to open his eyes, as Selene took him and cradled him in her arms. She looked down at his small face tenderly, smiling. Then her topaz eyes lifted to Yu.

"Our son, Yu."

The Japanese man slowly reached out to brush one finger over the baby's face, as if assuring himself it was real.

"Our son," he repeated softly.


End file.
